Jean-Michel Pilc Trio

Friday, October 26

Youll have no trouble believing hes a former rocket scientist: This Frenchman has a brainiac way with the piano thats meticulous and mathematical, but with a bit of the wild dishevelment found in a lab-bound academic. Sometimes I like him; other times (such as on his recent Dreyfus CD, New Dreams) theres a saccharine experimentalism thats way too ready for excerpt between segments of All Things Considered. Nonetheless! Hes still worth checking out, in part because of the fabulous drummer Ari Hoenig, who takes a traditional approach to the kit, but whose solos deploy space and melody in a way that manages to be arresting and unique.